Concerns about election cheating remain high, and a majority of U.S. voters believe every state should require that ballots be available immediately after elections for bipartisan voter reviews to enhance election confidence and transparency.
Only 23% are against ballot reviews, while 21% are not sure, according to the findings of a survey by Rasmussen Reports and The National Pulse.
The Arizona Democratic Party filed a lawsuit in a failed effort to prevent the audit of 2020 ballots in Maricopa County. Auditors found nearly 50,000 ballots deemed “questionable,” although the recount did not overturn President Joe Biden’s narrow victory over former President Donald Trump in that state.
Sixty-two percent of voters are concerned about the possibility of cheating in this year’s midterm elections, including 39% who are very concerned, 16% who are not very concerned, and 17% are not at all concerned, according to Rasmussen Reports.
Majorities of every political category – 67% of Republicans, 53% of Democrats, and 58% of unaffiliated voters – believe election integrity will be a very important issue in this year’s congressional elections, Rasmussen notes.
But considerably more Republicans (55%) than Democrats (25%) or unaffiliated voters (37%) are very concerned about cheating in the November midterms.
Among voters who support requiring post-election ballot reviews in every state, 57% trust Republicans more to protect the integrity of elections, while 65% of those opposed to requiring ballot reviews trust Democrats more.
A majority of Republicans (68%) say ballots should be made available immediately after elections for bipartisan voter reviews. Among Democratic voters, 45% support post-election ballot reviews and 33% are opposed, while 22% are not sure.
Fifty-four percent of white and Black voters, as well as 64% of other minorities, believe every state should require that ballots be available immediately after elections for bipartisan voter reviews to enhance election confidence and transparency. Eighty-two percent of white voters, 72% of Black voters, and 79% of other minorities expect the issue of election integrity to be at least somewhat important in the November congressional midterms.
More men (62%) than women voters (51%) believe making ballots available for post-election reviews should be required in every state.
Voters under 40 are significantly less likely than elder voters to think election integrity will be a very important issue in November, Rasmussen notes.
Among voters who strongly approve of Biden’s job performance as president, just 33% favor every state requiring that ballots be available for review immediately after elections, while 46% are opposed to such ballot reviews. Among voters who strongly disapprove of Biden’s performance, 79% favor bipartisan voter reviews and just 6% are opposed.
The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 1-2 by Rasmussen Reports and The National Pulse. The margin of sampling error is plus/minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.